Ritualizing Your Creativity

Oct 18

True story: I used to hate the word ritual. For the longest time, I associated the word with old-fashioned and outdated traditions that usually did more harm than good. Then, I erroneously believed that rituals were the same thing as habits or routines. And while a ritual can become akin to a habit or a routine — it’s not the same thing. It wasn’t until I leaned into my spiritual awakening that I recognized the differences. Not only that, but I came to love what rituals actually meant.

So what is the difference?

It’s all about intention.

Habits = actions you take consistently to meet an end goal that becomes automatic

Example: Brushing your teeth every day (action) so that you have healthy teeth and gums (end goal).

Routines = a set of actions you take consistently to meet an end goal

Example: An exercise regimen of cardio, followed by strength training (actions) to keep your body in shape and healthy (end goal).

Oftentimes, habits become part of a routine but there is usually some debate on whether or not habits have to always be part of a routine. For example, maybe you only follow your workout routine three days a week. And maybe you change up which exercises you do. That could be a repeated routine that you do, but it’s not a consistent (every day) set of actions. There’s less rigidity in routines than there is with habits.

Ritual = an intentional sequence of actions that are not intended to be automatic but serves to meet an end goal

Example: Setting the table in a very specific way, with specific cutlery or adornments followed by a specific prayer or invocation (actions) followed by a special dinner (end goal).

In the end, rituals are not used to build habits or routines per se (though they can), rather to enhance whatever the end goal is. It’s the intention behind the actions that reinforces or supports the end goal but usually aren’t done outside of the container meant for the end goal.

Once I realized the difference between habits, routines, and rituals, I came to believe, personally, that rituals are a way of celebrating and enhancing whatever the end goal is. Whereas for me, habits and routines are ultimately behavior modifications to meet an end goal.

Very different intentions, right?

The benefit of ritualizing creativity

So if we are taking my personal meaning of rituals to heart — a way of celebrating and enhancing the end goal — then it stands to reason that we can create rituals to support our creative endeavors, too.

But why bother? Because…

It switches our doing mind to a being mind. When we are active participants in the preparation and execution of a project, we tend to feel more aligned with whatever that end goal is.
It gives us a sense of agency when things feel stuck. If, like me, you’re an intuitive creator, that means that sometimes the creative juices aren’t flowing. But if you commit to doing a ritual before you get creative, there’s a sense of agency that even if you are unable to complete your end goal, you’re always able to complete your ritual. This has been a game-changer for me, personally.
It brings back the power of what our elders believed in. It’s not a coincidence that ritual shows up in so many cultural or spiritual practices — because the very act of showing reverence for what you intend to do is believed to have an overall positive effect on your end goal.
Sets the “scene” for you to show up with your whole self to the creative practice

How can we bring rituals into creativity?

The best part about rituals is that you get to decide every part of it. Going back to my meaning of rituals — celebrating and enhancing the end goal — then it stands to reason that whatever you choose to do to support the celebration or enhancement of your creative project becomes very individual and personal. What’s important is the intention and mindfulness you put into the ritual. Here are some common rituals I’ve seen put into play for creative endeavors:

Lighting a specific candle before or during your creative practice
Listening to a specific song or set of songs before or during your creative practice
Pulling a card before you journal every day
Having a cup of tea or coffee on your porch to take in the scenery before you begin your creative practice
Going for a walk at a specific time or on a specific route before, during or after your creative practice
Doing Yoga or meditation before you begin your creative practice
Dictating a voice memo of how you’re feeling right before you begin your creative practice

This is just a small list of common rituals, but as I’ve mentioned, it can look however you want it to look as long as you’re infusing intention and mindfulness into it. If you really want to get pumped up about rituals, think of yourself and your ritual like an athlete or performer might before their big game or show — the go-to actions that they believe help them perform better in the moment. Sure, the rituals may or may not have an actual bearing on their performance, but they believe it does. They intentionally do them because they believe it helps them. And ultimately, that’s what matters. That you marry the intent and the belief.

Personal Examples

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that I now love my rituals and I wanted to give you a little glimpse into my personal rituals because like that athlete or performer — I do believe that when I intentionally perform these set of actions, it enhances and celebrates the end goal. That’s why I continue to do them! I’m sharing this with you not to advocate that you follow my rituals but as a guiding example of what it can look like in practice.

My Morning Pages Writing Ritual

Directly after waking up and doing the morning activities (you know, the boring stuff like peeing, brushing teeth, getting dressed), I make a cup of coffee.
I take my coffee to my office and read one chapter of whatever book I’m reading at the moment (the one chapter is important — I always stop at the end of one because I don’t have time to binge-read).
I log on to my morning writing group on Zoom
We collectively light a candle and incense or sage
An oracle card is pulled and a prompt is given
We begin our morning pages
Individually, I also reflect on my personal daily card, fill out my goals and hopes for the day and then wrap up my pages by noticing what I’m grateful for

This is the ritual I have followed for the past year and it has dramatically changed the way I feel during my morning pages as well as the rest of the day! When I miss a day of this, I feel discombobulated, out of sorts, and genuinely miss the connection to the ritual.

My Writing Ritual

I follow a similar ritual to my morning writing group when it’s time to write anything else (like this article!).

I light a specific candle (one that has a wood-wick so I can hear the crackling sound) — this singular action has had more of an effect on my process than anything else. There is something pavlovian about having a specific aroma and sound in play when you are concentrating on something.
I pull an oracle card to “set the tone” for the writing experience
I use noise-canceling headphones and put on specific music that brings in the creative forces (for me this is not music with lyrics… usually binaural music, soundtracks, campfire, or thunder/rain sounds)
I begin writing

Now, there’s not much to this ritual, it takes less than 5 minutes to complete. But the intention of lighting the candle, pulling the card, putting on specific music almost always puts me in a state of mind that enhances my creativity.

Preparing for a card reading

I’ve found that my rituals are of mass importance before connecting with my spiritual side as is needed when I read cards for clients. There is a certain level of “clearing out” that needs to take place before I can feel aligned with my spiritual side — so the rituals I perform are a way of doing just that.

Meditation to release the negative or stale energy
Lighting a specific (but different) candle that is only used during readings
Lighting sage and smudging my cards and area
A quick sentiment of gratitude to Spirit for giving me the skills and ability to perform the action of reading
Bringing into focus the person(s) I’m reading for and their specific quandary or question
Shuffling the cards in a very specific way
Pulling the cards in a very specific way

I follow this ritual every.single.time. I do a card reading, without fail. And it’s not because I believe it will make or break a reading, rather it sets up the entire container of reading for someone into an intentional and celebratory process.

My Winter Mid-Day Ritual

I’ve found a very simple but effective coping mechanism for my Seasonal Affective Disorder during winter is to actually ritualize a very brief moment of my day. This has been one of the most helpful actions I’ve taken in the past few years. It’s so small and yet it makes a huge difference. Obviously, this is a ritual that I only indulge in during the winter months, but it stands to reason that I could adapt it year-round if I wanted to (key phrase: if I wanted to).

Mid-day (usually between 1pm-3pm) I make a cup of coffee or tea.
I stand by my kitchen windows and look out at the woods behind our house and take in the weather, the sights, the sounds.
As I’m looking out the windows, I’m simultaneously holding the hot coffee cup and noticing the feel of it. I take in the aroma. I sip slowly and consciously.
If anything of importance comes up during these moments, I may make a mental note to reflect on it later, or I may grab my phone and jot down some notes in my notes app.
I finish the cup of tea/coffee and get back to whatever I was doing before.

This small yet mighty ritual does a few things for me: it forces me to take a mental and physical break from staring at my computer or the projects I’m working on. It also forces me to use my senses as I’m intentionally taking time to notice what I’m feeling, seeing, smelling, and hearing. More times than not, it offers me a moment of immense gratitude.

My New Deck Initiation Ritual

I’ve written about the wisdom of getting to know your “new” decks (read it here) and my ritualization of initiating a new deck into my collection is part of that process. For me, it helps cement the energy and intention in using the decks but also serves as a way to “get to know” the decks in a familiar way.

I put on my “comfort” music (usually a playlist of songs that I’m really digging lately)
I hook up my scanner
I sit on my bean bag (a very important part of my process, believe it or not).
I smudge the cards with sage
Then, I scan the cards one by one, looking at the images, reading the descriptions from the guidebook
Then I rename/organize the digital files

Such a simple but powerful ritual for my decks — and something I look forward to with every new deck that I get.

Conclusion

In the end, rituals are meant to serve you in whatever capacity that means for you. Just about everything we do on a day-to-day basis could benefit from some ritualization but that’s just not realistic. But when it comes to your creativity, the benefits of ritualizing certain activities can have an immense impact on your mindset and flow for your creative process. If even one item discussed sparks interest, why not try it out? Why not add something special and totally younique to your process and see what happens? You might just find yourself falling in love with a ritual you never knew you needed — and that’s pretty damn magical.

•••

Need some help or accountability with your creative rituals? We talk about this topic often in The Write Minded Community. Come join us and see what else you can discover about your creative practices!